Carlton Pearson is an independent spiritual leader, New Thought teacher, and two-time Stellar Award winning gospel recording artist. He was consecrated Bishop of Azusa Interdenominational Fellowship of Christian Churches and Ministries in 1996. This as a very welcome Christmas gift. (See also book 445.)

This hardback’s back flap gives more than the above about Carlton Pearson: He has presided over hundreds of churches and a conference drawing about 50,000 attendees. Because of his highly-acclaimed first book, The Gospel of Inclusion, he has been featured in numerous media venues, including Dateline NBC, ABC’s Nightline, 20/20, the National Geographic Channel, and NPR’s This American Life. He is Interim Senior Minister of Christ Universal Temple for Better Living in Chicago. I presume he had these opportunities because of his personality and his story of his escape from the oppressive life he led, before his awakening, as an ELF (evangelical/literalist/fundamentalist). (I tell in my review of book 434 who told me about the acronym ELF that is used by ex-ELFs.)

The book’s front flap has the following summary: “The author of The Gospel of Inclusion continues to rouse organized religion as he raises controversial issues and provides enlightening answers to the deepest questions about God and faith.

”What is God? Where is God? Who is the one true God? Questions such as these have driven a thousand human struggles, through war, terrorism, and oppression. Humanity has responded by branching off into multiple religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam – each one pitted against the other. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

“In God Is Not a Christian, nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu . . . the provocative and acclaimed Bishop Carlton Pearson follows up on his celebrated first book, The Gospel of Inclusion, to tackle these questions and many more, exploring new ideas about God and faith and putting forth the stunning assertion that God belongs to no particular religion but is an ever-loving presence available to all. For these beliefs Bishop Pearson lost his thriving Pentecostal ministry but was catapulted instead into a greater pulpit. His readership has grown through appearances on national television and an extensive speaking schedule. With the world in the midst of a holy war, there is no better time for the wisdom of Bishop Pearson to reach a global audience.

“Bishop Pearson’s many loyal fans, along with new readers, will surely welcome this provocative and eye-opening exploration of a deeper faith, one that goes far beyond any fundamentalist way of thinking, be it Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc. Simply put, Bishop Pearson dares to tell the truth so many others are too afraid to face.”

The book has a 20-pp Preface, an Introduction, 12 chapters, an Afterword and a brief Epilogue. The Table of Contents can be seen and you can read online most of the Preface and the first six pages of the Introduction – Busting Grandma and Grandpa Out of Hell – by using the option Click to LOOK INSIDE on its website:

http://www.amazon.com/God-Not-Christian-Muslim-Hindu/dp/B0048ELDKU/ref=s...

The titles of the chapters are meaningful, so I advise looking at the Table of Contents and reading the first six pages of the Introduction to get the “flavor” of his writing style – the first five pages are very personal but they reveal, in his words about his years in an ELF environment: “The psychological wear and tear has been obvious to me for my entire adult life. In our constant struggle to avoid the momentary, unforgivable lapse that would cause God to fling us into hellfire, we had created a kind of personal, emotional hell for ourselves. I don’t agree with all of the points that ‘new atheist’ writers like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens make in their books, but about this they are correct: holding this kind of existential fear over the head of a child from the time he or she is old enough to comprehend it is a kind of abuse.” Following this (on page six) is the section with the heading “THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE BEGINNING. I strongly recommend that a reader read at least the nearly full page available online of this section. (As for the 20-pp Preface (pp vii- xxvi), not available online are 6 pages: vii-viii, xiii, xix-xx, and xxvi, thus leaving gaps, which I detest in online samples of a book's preface or chapter.)

Carlton Pearson’s transformation from ELFdom to a New Thought teacher is about as great a transformation from oppressive religion as one can have – from the far right (in religion and in politics) to the far left of his New Thought religion (I won’t try to guess his new politics). I mention some crucial points that he elaborates on, some of which are obvious just from a chapter’s title. Consider Chapters 2 – 5 as good examples: Ch 2 – Get the Hell Out of My Bible – Pearson believes firmly that hell is an invention of religion and he now firmly believes that for the enlightenment of New Thought there is no such thing as hell. Ch 3 – What Devil Made You Do It? – he’s sure that devils are also horrible religious inventions to be rejected. Ch 4 – We’re All Left Behind – he’s certain that 'the rapture' is an absurd idea that should also be rejected. Ch 5 – If I wanted Religion in My Bedroom, I’d Give It a Key – this needs no comment.

I won’t try to make concise all he has to say in Parts II and III – I’ll only say that there is very much that is very insightful and inspirational food for thought offered there by Carlton Pearson. I only want to add that his focus is on an individual’s self and its direct relationship with God. To my very great disappointment there is almost no mention of the positive aspects of communal interactions with others, whether in an enlightened church (or temple or mosque, etc) or anywhere else. But I feel sure from his affiliations with churches (as mentioned above) and from being a bishop that he is only focusing here on the self. His many bad words about religion were, I believe, directed primarily at ELFdom as well as on those religions that focus on fundamental or on being literalists (and thereby replacing the worship of God with worship of the Bible as an idol, which he makes clear he strongly rejects - as he should!).

Among his lessons is that an individual must first get his or her self in order before reaching out to others, thus his focus in this book on one’s self. He feels that this requires a spiritual and mystical approach rather than only communal religious activities. Thus in his Afterword – Rediscovering the Mystical You – his last section, Your Mystical Future, he raises questions for you: “As human beings, we’re always trying to locate the place within ourselves where we are most at peace; the part of ourselves we love unconditionally. I think we can find this place by asking and honestly answering four questions:

• What do you believe most about yourself?
• Why do you believe it?
• What do you love most about yourself?
• Why do you love it?

“The mystery of your future is you. Not the mythical you, but the mystical you.” …”You want to know where we’re all headed and where this all ends? We’re going back to our future: to who and where we were before we got here, back to our pre-incarnate selves.” …”See your future not as the inevitable result of your past but as the evolving result of your present. Visualize your future as the best, most positive, most valuable, and most creative response to your present possibilities. Your future can be so much more than an extension of your past. You are bound by nothing, limited by nothing, and defined by nothing but you, your mystical self.”

I am especially glad to be given this thought-provoking, insightful book, which I rate at five stars.